GHPS Life

INTERSCHOOL SPORT 

Greenhills A VS Diamond Creek East – AWAY

Greenhills B VS Glen Katherine B – HOME

COMMUNITY SPORTING ACHIEVEMENTS

Congratulations to Tayla P (6LR) who was awarded the u13/4s MVP Award at the Diamond Creek Netball Club Representative Presentation Night. This is her first year of Representative Netball, which makes it an even greater achievement! 

Well done, Tayla!

Congratulations to Sarah B (2SH), Isabelle B (2SH) & Emily M (2JM) who took home the gold medal for the 4x100m Relay at the Diamond Valley Little Athletics Centre Relay Championships last weekend. 

Well done, girls!

   COMMUNITY SPORTING ACHIEVEMENTS

If your child achieves something special (grand final win, most valuable player award, best and fairest etc.), please email me (jordan.daley@education.vic.gov.au) through photos and an overview of the achievement to post in Contact. It is important to celebrate and recognise such successes with the school community.

Thank you, 

Jordan Daley

OFFICE NEWS

The Cabinet of Curiosities is back for Term 4

Now the days are warming up and we are starting to spend more time outdoors.  Why not look for something that interests you or sparks your curiosity to add to our growing mini natural history museum located in the office area.

Ensure you check with a grown up before you pick something up to make sure it is safe.  It doesn’t have to be an item - it could be something you have drawn or taken a picture of.  Please don’t remove any critters from their habitat for this project.

If you have something you would like to add, collect a specimen card from the office to fill out to present with your item. 

* No valuable items please *                                                                                                     

* Have fun and enjoy the sunshine*

Thankyou,

Victoria Harris.

 JSC NEWS

CONNECTED SCHOOLS

 Let’s Take it Slow: The Importance of a Go-Slow Childhood

 By Maggie Dent

Stress is a new challenge to children’s health and social wellbeing in our modern world. The ‘hurried child’ and the over-scheduled child are modern developments.

We have sped up the pace of life and living. We live in an instant world where we expect everything NOW. Communication, food, pain relief, results, well-behaved children — you name it, we expect things instantly.

This expectation works silently and unconsciously creates stress when things do not happen straight away.

Children take all of childhood to grow — to learn how to think, learn, process information, behave appropriately, manage their lives, dress themselves, find their way home and learn who they are! We cannot rush this vital development.

Children’s brains are immature and unable to cope with the stressors of modern adult living and they often misinterpret adult challenges as being about them or their fault.

Consistent stress becomes distress and the brain is seriously affected. Irrational behaviour, unstable emotions, sleeplessness and defiance are potential signs that a child is stressed, and struggling.

We want our children to be able to manage living in our chaotic world and avoid becoming overwhelmed by the speediness and busyness of modern life. One of the best ways to do this is by calming our children’s lives.

So perhaps now is a good time to take stock and implement some strategies in your life to slow things down a little and create a calm environment for your kids and yourself.

Top tips for go-slow living:

Stop rushing

Stressed parents who rush everywhere are one of the main sources of stress and anxiety in children. Always plan to leave 20 mins before you need to so when things don’t go to plan (do they ever?) you won’t be under so much pressure. Also use visual reminders (for younger children), lists and rosters (for older children) to help prompt children with things like brushing their teeth, remembering to feed the dog or packing their school bag.

Breathe

Healthy breathing has always helped to soothe our stressed psyches. There are many breathing techniques that help restore the calmness response in our bodies. A good and simple one is taking three sighs — and pausing after the third one. Or take three deep breaths with the outward breath being longer than the inward breath, count to five and do it again. This is a simple technique that you can teach children and adolescents, and it won’t do you any harm either!

Get some sleep

Consistent boundaries around sleep are important for everyone. Sleep deprivation and inconsistent bedtimes impact on learning, mood moderation and behaviour. The brain needs deep sleep to renew cells and grow new neurons for learning. Good sleep also contributes to better emotional stability and a more agreeable demeanour. Make sure you have family rules about phones and other devices getting switched off at a reasonable hour and kept out of bedrooms, especially for teens.

Slow it down

Try walking slower, talking slower and being more mindful or present in your day-to-day life (there are millions of books and online resources to teach mindfulness). Also ask what you can take out of your life so that you can be a calmer parent, especially in the early years — avoid wearing too many hats when your children are young. Ask the same of your children’s lives if they have a lot of activities.

Enjoy the quiet

Homes that consciously create calm and quiet times are building enormous support structures that will help children feel safe, allow them to enjoy their own quiet company and lower the stress levels within their growing bodies. Have regular times in your house where everything is switched off and everyone in the family takes time out to just ‘be’ instead of doing all the time.

Soothe more

Especially when your children are little, really focus on soothing and comforting them quickly, especially through safe touch and low soothing sounds. As they get older, reassure your children they are valued, safe, and that mistakes and accidents are normal.

Go outside

Spending time in nature has enormous benefits for us all. Make sure you and your family frequently spend time outdoors, whether it’s picnicking on the back lawn, walking on the beach or visiting a park.

In the greater scheme of life, our children are only children for such a short time. Let’s not rush it.

Parents Partnerships Leader - Roslyn Mackie 

MONTMORENCY SECONDARY COLLEGE   ARTS ALIVE PRIMARY SCHOOL ART COMPETITION 2023 

“You Can Be Anything”

MONTMORENCY SECONDARY COLLEGE ARTS ALIVE COMPETITION 2023 

PRIMARY SCHOOL SECTION – GREENHILLS FINALISTS

Congratulations to the talented young artists who participated in the Montmorency Secondary College Arts Alive competition earlier this month. The competition guidelines allowed for various artistic expressions, including drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media, collage, decorated food, or computer-generated art. The competition welcomed local primary school students from Years 4, 5, and 6 to submit pieces they had created either at school or at home.

We're delighted to announce that eleven Greenhills Primary School students were chosen as finalists out of the twenty whose work was featured at the exhibition. The successful finalists were: Ella N, Charlotte B, Gracie G, Lila G, Shiloh M, Sasha W, Mia B, Sophie M, Mia P, Lana N and Stephanie C.

At the opening of the arts festival on Tuesday night, it was super exciting and a very proud moment for parents and ourselves, when Greenhills Primary School students took out a clean sweep of first, second and third places. Mia B was awarded 3rd place, Sasha W was awarded 2nd place and Sophie M was awarded 1st place. Mia, Sasha and Sophie received a Greensborough Plaza Voucher and all finalists will have the opportunity to take part in an art workshop to be held at Montmorency Secondary College in November or December. All finalists also received a certificate of participation and a showbag.

The event was not only an opportunity to celebrate the talents of our primary school finalists but also to admire the incredible work from Montmorency Secondary College's art students. It was an added delight to see the artistic contributions of past Greenhills students on display. We extend our gratitude to Montmorency Secondary College for providing this enriching opportunity year after year.

We often express our pride in our Greenhills students, and in this case, it's certainly worth reiterating: Greenhills students are GREAT!

Kind Regards

Sarah Leach & Andrea Williams

VISUAL ART SPECIALISTS

GREENHILLS ANNUAL MUSIC FESTIVAL

It is that time of year where if you venture near the Music Room, you will hear students practising and rehearsing for the Music Festival. This year's Festival will be held on Wednesday 29th November at the Nalleijerring Performance Centre at Eltham High School, commencing at 7.30p.m.

The Recital and Training Choirs will be performing alongside Danielle's singing students, Steve's guitar students from Grades 3 - 6, the violin ensemble, and an array of solo items. Grade 3 students will also be presenting an item. 

The Music Festival promises to be a great night of musical entertainment. Tickets can be purchased through tryBooking from 1/11/23 using the following link https://www.trybooking.com/CMSRV

I look forward to seeing you there.

Kate Stewart.

COLOUR RUN

Get your Colour on, Greenhills Parents Association is hosting a Colour Explosion Fun Run! 

Colour Explosion Fun Run Fun will be on Wednesday 8th November from 2:30pm to 3:30pm.

Not only are we hosting an awesome Colour Explosion Fun Run, Students can order up to a total of 5 prizes based on their donations received. They can even mix and match!

Students have received a sponsorship book with instructions on setting up their cybersafe, online fundraising profile at www.australianfundraising.com.au. This is an entirely online fundraiser; all cash donations must be converted to online donations to redeem your prizes.

Extra Incentives to Fundraise!

• Online Golden Coins – complete fun online tasks to redeem an extra $75 towards your prize credit.
• Monty the Monstar’s Bonus Prizes – achieve milestones to unlock Monty’s bonus prizes.
• $10,000 JB HI FI Spending Spree for one organisation’s highest fundraising student – it could be you!
• Our school will win an extra $5,000 if we have the highest average fundraised amount per student in 2023.
• A Play Station 5 Gaming Bundle – see your child’s sponsorship booklet for more!

For more information, please contact Sarah Leach at sarah.leach@education.vic.gov.au.

Happy fundraising!

CANTEEN

Helpers Needed

If you have a spare hour on a Wed, Thurs or Fri between 1pm and 2pm, come along and help in the canteen. There is no food preparation involved, it's very simple and the kids love seeing parents there!

You need to have completed the Volunteer Induction, and sign up through CareBookings - www.carebookings.com.au - access code is JGU9L.

Helpers get a canteen voucher for their kids to use for their next lunch order! 

Thanks, 

Miriam.

STUDENTS OF THE WEEK

Term 4 Week 4 - Presented at Assembly 3rd of November 2023